yeah, almost everyone
by Floodtail- AKA Floody
Summary: we won, but carmilla's dead- ;carmilla/laura;


The building is dark and the bitter scent of mildew is rank on the air. Musty scents wreathe the air and your nose wrinkles.

You can sense the broken whimpers of three girls all around, and the sword feels leaden in your hands, like rocks are moving through your insides. Your head spins and your hands spark as the sword glimmers a breathy gold in all that dark, exuding brilliance in the hellish pit. 

Danny and the Society and the Zetas are behind you and the Lustig building is broken down in the basement, cobblestones and rubble littering the earthen floor.

Screams and yowls come from the room ahead. The Light that Devours pulses eerily, brightly, ahead, tendrils of white light sparking out. By the light you can see the bloody fight. 

The tide breaks and the phalanx of the Society and the Zetas, armed with tridents and salted herring— united, you think, with a faintly sad smile, it feels like goodbye— rush past, roaring in defiance, stakes gripped in hands, and forks and knives, anything dangerous. Mother's counsel shrieks and rises to meet them, and blood starts to fly and bodies start to hit the floor. 

You slip past with the golden blade of Hastur, aware of the strength sapping from your veins, the heavy, sluggish movements of your arms and legs. Weakly, you think: this will be over soon. 

Pain ripples through your veins as you shift. Your body becomes larger and lengthens, feline, becoming lithe and smooth, tail flicking out behind, clawed paws hitting the cave floor. The darkness becomes clear and you can see everyone slowly lurching toward the light that devours.

Your eyes land on a small figure clearly struggling the light but being drawn in anyway. You leap forward, paws propelling you across the stone floor with strong thrusts and you fasten your jaws in the collar of her shirt, yanking her away from the lip of the chasm.

She falls to the floor, eyes full of terror before you shrink and shift, and her eyes become sad and anxious and hopeful— all at once, all as she sees you crouched on the floor with the light eating blade clutched in your fist, sucking in tendrils of brightness. It hums with electric energy in your palm.

"Carmilla," she whispers. 

A loud shriek of fury jerks you from staring at her and you turn to see a swarm of shadows plunging upon you.

The sword flashes out instinctually, cutting down the first shadow, but two more take its place with every one you kill.

Battle thrills in your veins and time loses meaning. You slash, hack, duck, feint, stab— until the shadows are few and they condense into a bloody, furious woman.

"Mother," you snarl, and you flip the sword and smash it into her temple without hesitance. She falls back with a scream, tumbling over the chasm's edge and vanishing into the darkness.

The light glows. Laura whimpers behind you. 

"Carmilla," she whispers, and you whip toward the light as she says your name. It's pulsing brightly and a single shadow stands in the heart of it. 

"Elle," you murmur, and your heart thuds.

The ghost reaches out and you turn one last time to Laura, say shakily— you can feel hot tears streaming down your face, and you aren't sure why— crying because goddamn it— Elle is footsteps away, or are you crying because Laura's looking up sadly at you, with love in her eyes and you have to leave her? You have to sacrifice to save her?

You're inclined to think the latter.

_Don't be an idiot; _you think wistfully; _of course I'm doing it for you._

She never knew in all this time.

You won't ever get to kiss her good night or tell her you love her now, but she will live, and that is enough to know that's what you sacrificed for.

"I'm really starting to hate all this heroic vampire crap," you say softly, giving her one last look that says so many things you were too scared to admit. Her wide eyes are little forest pools in the darkness, shadows shrouding her face as she reaches out with a bloody hand and you breathe one last breath before turning and springing with the sword outstretched. It plunges into the light, golden hilt protruding and scalding your hands—and a single shrill scream emanates from the core before it shakes and sputters and falls down.

Your hands are stuck to it and time slows. You see vampires diving from the lip of the chasm, fire blazing in little orbs along the rippled cave walls, tridents flashing and the light exploding everywhere. Laura's face is lit briefly and that is the image you take into the darkness. 

You're dragged with it, a scalding fire overtaking you, and the last thing you see is Laura's eyes, and the last thing you hear is her heartbroken scream. 

"_Carm!" _

The darkness blinds you and then all is black.


End file.
